“The participation met our goal. The factory, at the level of its 327 workers, stopped completely,” stated Rui Matias from the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Agricultura e das Indústrias da Alimentação, Bebidas e Tabacos de Portugal (SINTAB) in statements to Lusa.
However, the workers have not yet received any response from the company, and therefore, they will meet again in plenary sessions to decide on the next forms of struggle to adopt.
The schedule for these plenary sessions is not yet finalized.
“The workers have shown that they strike out of necessity and not out of whim […]. These workers will not stop,” assured the union leader.
The workers of Grupo SCC – Sociedade Central de Cervejas e Bebidas/Heineken started the strike on May 31, in response to the company’s “intransigence” regarding the negotiation of the demands that were presented at the end of last year.
The workers demand a 10% salary increase, with a minimum of 100 euros, the valorization of meal, shift, and continuous work allowances.
Sintab stated, in a communiqué released on May 16, that the company unilaterally applied a 4% salary increase, which workers argue is insufficient.
The collective labor agreement of SCC Heineken covers all group companies, except Novadis, whose workers will strike between June 18 and 25.
Since 2021, the companies in the group have merged, and SCC has incorporated other companies such as Água e Termas do Luso, Água Castello, and Hoppy House Brewing.
The Novadis workers sent the company a list of demands, in which they require the application of the collective labor agreement in effect in the other companies of the group, the end of “discrimination in salary increases,” a minimum increase of 150 euros, ensuring the minimum salary at 1,000 euros, 25 vacation days, and a 35-hour workweek.
“Here too, the company ignored, having refused to negotiate anything, applying negligible salary increases negotiated with UGT which does not represent any worker,” it was reported at the time.
